This invention relates to a hockey return apparatus for reflecting back an object such as a puck or ball when struck by the puck or ball traveling on a playing surface, for use in training the player to shoot the puck or ball accurately and anticipate the angle of reflection and velocity of the puck or ball and for returning the puck or ball to the player to be shot again.
In the game of hockey, whether played with a puck or with a ball, constant practice is necessary to achieve competent play. A player must learn to impart sufficient velocity to the puck or ball to either send it into the net or to bounce it off the side walls of the hockey arena at the correct angle and force to cause the puck or ball to reflect off the arena walls toward another player or another area of the arena. The player must also learn to shoot the puck into the net.
The invention has a similar purpose to a pitch-back in baseball or a "backboard" in tennis. A return apparatus is necessary to practice shooting the puck or ball because sufficient "ice time" is rarely available for practice. Many parents of children find their garage doors dented and scarred by hockey pucks because of the lack of a substitute return apparatus. With the rising popularity of in-line skating, street hockey is increasing in popularity, further requiring a puck or ball return apparatus for practice.
There is a need for a hockey return apparatus which returns the puck or ball to the player to be shot again. Because street or driveway playing surfaces have a much higher coefficient of sliding friction than ice, the return apparatus should impart sufficient return velocity to the puck or ball to overcome this increased sliding friction and return the puck or ball to the player. Furthermore, when struck by a puck or ball, the return apparatus should reflect the puck or ball in approximately the same way that the arena sidewalls do.